With the 2020-21 Premier League season now concluded, we now take a look back at the five top matches from across the last eight months.
From shock narrow victories to cracking thrillers, there have been plenty of surprise results throughout the campaign but I have picked out five top quality matches which reflect just how unpredictable this season has been.
With 38 goals across these selected top five matches, here are my five picks of stand-out Premier League games over the last eight months as twists and turns raged throughout the table.
Manchester City 2-5 Leicester City (Week Three)
Week three saw plenty of entertaining matches as Manchester United and Liverpool scraped wins but it was Leicester who stole the headlines that weekend with a shock victory in a seven goal thriller at Manchester City.
Man City took an early lead as Riyad Mahrez smashed in a fourth minute opener against his former team, only for Jamie Vardy to net two penalties either side of half-time on top of a tap-in to put the Foxes 3-1 up after 58 minutes.
James Maddison extended the Foxes lead with a clinically curled strike with 13 minutes left, before Youri Tielemans wrapped up a stunning victory with a 88th minute penalty after Nathan Ake had briefly offered the hosts hopes of a late comeback four minutes earlier with a header on his home debut.
This game therefore has made my top five matches this season because it was just a brilliant encounter between two attacking teams with plenty of entertainment and some stunning goals to boot, particularly from James Maddison who was just excellent in this game.
Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool (Week Four)
If could single one matchweek out as the best round of this season, it would be Week Four which produced not only 41 goals but an epic nine-goal cracker under the lights at Villa Park to boot.
Three goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn put Aston Villa 4-1 up at half time before Ross Barkley’s effort and a double from Jack Grealish sealed a 7-2 home win despite Mohamed Salah netting twice for Liverpool across both halves.
Now looking back at that game and how both teams have fared overall this season, it is just crazy to think about how easily Villa were able to tear the then reigning Premier League champions apart defensively in a ruthless display in which Jack Grealish and John McGinn were just exceptional in midfield.
Particular praise however has to go to Ollie Watkins who proved in just his third top-flight league start that he is more than a match for any Premier League club, especially in how he pressed high up the pitch and utilised his pace and technical ability to cause issues for Liverpool’s defence throughout.
We must also note that Watkins and Grealish combined in this game alone produced five goals and four assists between them, which was another element of this game to relish because they just linked up incredibly well despite having only played three games together in all competitions pre-match.
Finally, the 7-2 result alone justifies a place in the top five matches of this season let alone the outstanding individual performances from Villa players.
Manchester United 9-0 Southampton (Week 22)
Utd entered this match chasing cross-city rivals – Man City who had a three point lead in the title race entering the first matchweek of February, whereas Southampton were only six points off then fifth-placed West Ham ahead of this unexpectedly stunning match.
Southampton’s nightmare began after just two minutes as Alex Jankewitz was dismissed on his first Premier League start, following a high tackle on Scott McTominay.
Utd proceeded to take full advantage of their one-man advantage as Luke Shaw provided assists for Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Edinson Cavani, either side of their second goal produced by Marcus Rashford as Jan Bednarek flicked the Red Devils’ third into his own net to put the Saints 4-0 down at half-time.
Anthony Martial then netted a second half brace either side of strikes from McTominay and Bruno Fernandes to make it 8-0 come the 89th minute, as Bednarek was red carded just two minutes earlier for a foul on Martial.
Daniel James capped off the nine goal mauling of Southampton as he finished off Fernandes’ 93rd minute pass, as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints suffered another 9-0 defeat in consecutive seasons under the Austrian manager.
Now to lose by the same result last season at home to Leicester was shambolic but to lose one match in consecutive seasons by that scoreline and particularly under the same manager twice is just careless, as Southampton went on to finish 15th with just two wins in their last ten away trips in all competitions.
West Ham 3-3 Arsenal (Week 29)
West Ham entered their final game before March’s international break sat in fifth as they chased a shock top four finish, whereas Arsenal were staring down the barrel of no European football for the first time since 1995-96 season.
Having scraped their way through a tense Europa League Last 16 tie on aggregate just three days earlier, Arsenal failed to even get a foothold in the first half of this London derby as quick-fire goals from Jesse Lingard and Jarrod Bowen had West Ham in control after 20 minutes.
12 minutes later and Mikel Arteta’s Gunners looked down and out as Tomas Soucek nudged Vladimir Coufal’s cross, which put the Hammers on course for victory until Soucek deflected Alexandre Lacazette’s shot into his own net six minutes later to offer hopes of a remarkable comeback.
Arsenal soon began to turn the screws as they grew into the game and any prospect of a comeback became a genuine possibility in the 61st minute, as Craig Dawson fired Callum Chambers’ cross into his own net – coincidentally Dawson’s second own goal in seven days after conceding the winner at Man Utd a week earlier.
West Ham however refused to concede victory as Michail Antonio and Lingard saw shots blocked but Lacazette rose highest to head in Nicholas Pepe’s 82nd minute cross, snatching a vital point for the Gunners as West Ham had to settle for a 3-3 draw.
Looking back now, I feel like this was one of West Ham’s most season defining games because if they had clung on for the win and avoided defeat to Newcastle and Everton in the final weeks, they could of easily been much closer towards the end of this season and perhaps part of a four-way fight for Champions League football on the final day.
Great credit to Arsenal though because they could of easily just given up and unravelled much like their season had done, yet they stuck in after a woeful start and got a significant point despite eventually failing to qualify for Europe altogether by just one point come end of season.
Newcastle United 3-4 Manchester City (Week 36)
With survival and the title safely sealed ahead of Newcastle United’s clash against Manchester City in Week 36, I definitely wasn’t expecting to see a Friday Night Football cracker at St James’ Park under the lights.
Newcastle maximised their defensive ability to weather City’s bright start which earned them a 25th minute opener, as Emil Krafth headed in from a corner only for Joao Cancelo to equalise 14 minutes later with a brilliantly played curled shot.
Ferran Torres however was the star of this match with a stunning flick in off his heel to put City in front just three minutes later, yet Steve Bruce’s Magpies continued their improved form and got back into this game as Joelinton was fouled on the counter-attack.
Joelinton proceeded to fire in the resulting penalty to level the match 2-2 at half time as Newcastle went on to win another penalty, this time as Kyle Walker fouled Joe Willock who saw his penalty saved before firing in on the rebound in the 62nd minute.
Pep Guardiola’s Citizens however were alert to punish poor defending as Torres got his second goal just two minutes later as he turned in Gabriel Jesus’ cross, before clinching his first hat-trick in English Football as he lashed in on the rebound from Cancelo’s shot which had hit the post.
City went on to win 4-3 in what was an unexpected seven goal thriller given that neither team had anything to play for coming into match, especially City who were preparing for their maiden Champions League Final so could of easily lifted the gas to protect their players from injury yet they played their part in a corker.
Leave a Reply